Metal News Weekly Recap – July 12, 2013

“My father rode his mountain bike to his job working as my uncle’s secretary making just over minimum wage while my mother took care of me and my 2 brothers. Apparently, ‘rock star’ isn’t enough experience to have on a resume to get a decent job,” writes Shane Snider on www.MyDadWasInABand.com.

Shane is the son of Twisted Sister singer and House of Hair host, Dee Snider. “Sometimes my father would perform with a group called the SMF’s at small bars with maybe 20 people in attendance. Many of which were not there for the show. I’d watch these shows and wonder what happened. Why wasn’t he dressed like a silly monster anymore? Why isn’t it like the way it used to be? I wonder if my and my brothers’ obsession with the music videos hurt him. A lot of the footage in the videos would be of Twisted Sister performing in packed-out houses and coliseums, jamming out on beautiful cars and being rock stars. But under a leaky roof, with a lawn made of dirt and nothing but a station wagon to wash, it was clear there was a large part of my father’s life I just wasn’t around for…and whatever part that was, it was important.”

King’s X singer Dug Pinnick is pictured recovering from his recent hernia surgery on July 3. He’d avoided the surgery due to the cost; he couldn’t afford health insurance, but thanks to a GiveForward campaign launched this spring, over $26,000 was raised to help him get the surgery he needed for the painful condition. “I am overwhelmed with the amount of love that people have shown by contributing to help me afford my hernia surgery,” Dug wrote online.

“I have avoided this for way too long and I know that after my shows are lined up, I have to fix this immediately. I wish I could say that all the wonderful years of playing in King’s X were financially rewarded, but it’s not the reality. I’m not complaining. I am thankful that I get to make music for people who want to hear it. We will never stop working hard, though, and will continue making music in good times and bad.

It’s a tough business, but it’s what we were born to do and our fans have stood by us through it all. Without them we would not be here making music or doing shows. This I am thankful for every day and it’s because of our family, friends and fans that we were able to do it for this long. I can’t thank you all enough for helping me when I needed it the most. Thanks to the people who have never heard of me or King’s X and donated out of love. I hope I can repay you all someday with a huge hug and continue to make music that makes you think and groove….”

Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate shed some light on the squabble over the ownership of the name Queensryche between himself and his former band (both recording entities are currently using the name).

In a recent radio interview, Geoff explained, “What we’re doing in November [in court] is we’re dissolving our corporation. And that’s really what this whole court case is about. It has nothing to do with music, it has nothing to do with ‘He said, she said.’ It’s just dissolving the corporation and paying off the members of the corporation, and who has the money to buy it will buy it. Whoever has the most money to buy will get it. [laughs] It’s as simple as that. In a sense, there will be one Queensryche [when the case is decided], whether that’s a band…we don’t know. It’s a brand; it’s what it is. It’s a name that has value, and so that brand has to be purchased by an individual, or groups of indivudals.

So that’s where it’s at…it’s rules and regulations that are established by the state and the federal government on how to dissolve corporations. It’s all regulated, it’s a paint-by-numbers kind of thing. And that’s what’s so ridiculous about all the debate about this. It doesn’t have any sway; it doesn’t have anything to do with the case at all. All it did was create publicity, which Queensryche hasn’t had in years. And I’ve gotta tell you, Gene Simmons [of KISS] was right [when he said] ‘Any publicity is good publicity.’ ‘Cause we’ve had more sellouts on this Queensryche run that I’ve done than Queensryche has had in 10 years.”

Iron Maiden is making a splash in its native UK with its own Trooper beer. In fact, it’s now being sold to members of Parliament at the Stranger’s Bar in Britain’s House Of Commons (why don’t we have a bar in our own House and Senate?!) The addition of the brew is part of a tradition to promote relatively unknown British ales.

Says Mike Weatherley, a British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), “As an Iron Maiden fan and an MP, it is a real treat to have this specialist ale as one of the guest ales in parliament — the fact that I also get to try it for the first time on my birthday is just a bonus. The guest ales program is an excellent way of drawing attention to small and independent beers from around the U.K. and I would encourage any local brewers who would like the opportunity to have their product showcased in parliament to get in touch.”

U.K. national supermarket chain Morrissons recently announced that Trooper was its fastest-ever selling newly launched ale and that sales exceeded expectations by 10 times. Trooper can be purchased online in Europe; brewer Robinsons says its working to make it available worldwide ASAP. Find out more info at www.ironmaidenbeer.com.

Sammy Hagar is teaming up with a who’s-who of rock and country artists for his first collaborations album which will be released under the name (and title) of Sammy Hagar and Friends.

Alice Cooper is at work on an album of covers of songs by The Doors, John Lennon, The Who and Jimi Hendrix. The album is expected out sometime in 2014.

Said Alice to RollingStone.com back in March, “We do a thing in our show, which is a tribute to Hollywood Vampires, my drinking club. And it was Keith Moon [The Who], John Lennon [The Beatles], Harry Nilsson, Micky Dolenz [The Monkees] — a very eclectic bunch of drunks. Half of them are dead, so we do four songs in the show in tribute to them. We do ‘Break On Through’, ‘Revolution’, ‘My Generation’ and Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Foxey Lady’. I just kind of said, ‘We’ve never done a covers album, let’s think about that.’”

Check out the new video for the title track from Megadeth’s latest album, Super Collider. Frontman Dave Mustaine, who plays an irate dad in the video, is pictured with the video’s two stars.

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